Right across the George Washington Bridge over to Fort Lee, NJ is where you can get good Korean food at affordable prices. And, from what I hear, most of them are much more authentic than some other spots. I remembered having a really good authentic Korean soft-tofu soup long ago down South, I wanted to get something similar. It was not difficult to find a restaurant that specializes in such dish in Fort Lee.

 

We found this restaurant serving classic soft-tofu soup, and also some bibimbop and bulgogi dishes. The first thing I saw was the wall of tofu soup bowls, which was quite interesting decoration. Very fitting to what they are all about.

The inside was a good size, not too large but not small. Good amount of seating that are placed with nice space around them. Not crowding the space is always good for the customer, it is more comfortable when we don’t have to get so up close and personal with stranger sitting right next to you. I thought the ceiling decor was interesting, with the picture of greenery that are illuminated, it kind of makes it feel like you are in nature that is quiet, calm, and relaxing.

They had a kids play room next to the dining room, and they had a monitor that shows the live feed of the room. So, essentially, you could leave your kids in there while you eat at the table peacefully, knowing (seeing) your kid is safe.

As soon we put in our order, they brought out all the complimentary appetizers as most of the authentic Korean restaurants do. One surprising item was the fried fish? It was a-ok, but certainly interesting item. Other more regular appetizers were pretty good.

They also brought complimentary hot tea which was nice too! We always enjoy having a good Asian food with hot tea to wash it down.

And then, a staff brought over two stone bowls with silver serving bowls. When I opened, it had rice in it. I wanted to have some rice with the appetizers, so I started to get some rice out of it. A male staff came immediately and asked if I wanted some rice. I said yes and then he started to serve the rice for us. I guess it is not a job for a customer. And, I think it is more common to wait to have the rice with the main meal, and not with the appetizer…they didn’t seem to mind so that was ok.

For the main, we ordered from their Lunch Combo Special menu. I ordered Spicy Pork Bulgogi Combo ($18.75) that comes with Marinate Pork with red pepper paste and tofu soup. The tofu soup had a choice of Assorted Seafood & Beef or Vegetable tofu soup. I somehow felt strange about beef and seafood mix, so I asked for just beef. We were able to change the type of tofu soup with an additional $1.

The soup bowl was not as big, but then again, having it with meat dish and rice would be more than enough. When ordering Soon tofu (soft-tofu soup), you need to choose the level of spiciness. Learning from my experience at other Korean eateries, I went with “Mild” instead of “Medium.” The spiciness was good, not very spicy, but I am not sure if how spicy the Medium would be… Maybe I should stick with Mild.

The Beef Soon Tofu was pretty good, it had a good amount of beef in it. We cracked open the raw egg that came with the appetizer and let it cook in the hot soup. The tofu they use is organic, and they were silky smooth, comforting and absolutely perfect on a cold day. But then again, you don’t have to wait until it gets cold to enjoy this dish, for as long as you are in a restaurant with a nice AC.

The Spicy Pork Bulgogi was excellent, the marinate was simply delicious! And again, it had a really good portion of the meat. I enjoyed it with rice. The meat was tender and juicy, with sweetness to it from the marinate. It was the perfect comfort food.

My husband went with LA Gochujang Pork Combo ($19.75), that comes with marinated pork belly with red pepper paste and tofu soup. He also felt strange about the beef and seafood mix, so he asked his soon tofu to be Seafood Soon Tofu. It has oyster, shrimp, mussel and littleneck in the soup. The broth had very distinctive seafood broth flavor to it, very different from their beef soon tofu. It was tasty and my husband enjoyed every bite of it.

LA Gochujang Pork is very similar to Spicy Pork Bulgogi. The main difference is that the meat used in the LA Gochujang Pork is more fatty than the bulgogi. The flavor itself was almost the same as the bulgogi, which was ok since we really liked the taste of it. The portion was bigger than we could handle, so we took some of the meat back home. We also asked to pack up the kimchi that came with the appetizer, and they packed it up for us without issue.

At the end, they poured the hot tea into the rice stone pot, mixed it up with the leftover rice and put in into a small bowl. We had it like a soothing rice soup to cleanse our pallet. I think it is a nice way to end the meal with strong flavored dishes.

The service was ok, they were efficient but not overly friendly. Maybe they are not too used to non-Korean customers? They were nice enough though. The food was great and I thought the price was good when you consider all the food that you are receiving. I would like to go back again to get some more of their soon tofu!

 

BCD Tofu House – 1640 Schlosser St, Fort Lee, NJ 07024